Book Reviews

Swamp Blood (Guns n' Boys 4) by K.A. Merikan at Acerbi & Villani

Genre Gay / Contemporary / Assassins/Mercenaries / Erotic Romance / Dark Romance / Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Reviewed by Serena Yates on 05-September-2015

Book Blurb

--- Faking their own death was the easy part. ---

After months of recovering from his injuries, Seth struggles with who he has become. Afloat in a reality he never planned, he tries to find the lost pieces of himself again. Find the purpose, motivation, and strength to get back into shape. He is sick and tired of being a burden for Domenico, who seems to have it all together. When Domenico’s jealousy pushes them into the spotlight of a biker gang with connections to their former mafia family, Seth decides to step up, and make his own decisions, no matter what risks they might entail.

Domenico Acerbi can’t trust anyone. Nightmares of Seth’s torture are still haunting his dreams, and if he and Seth are to leave the country quietly and disappear off the mafia’s radar, he needs to stay in charge and keep everyone under control. What he doesn’t need is Seth giving him attitude, keeping secrets, and distancing himself for no reason. And as if Domenico didn’t have enough on his plate already, Seth forces him to help some hooker. Being stuck in the swamp with a kid hunted by a bunch of bikers is not Domenico’s idea of laying low.


POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

Themes: mafia, homophobia, assassin, organized crime, outlaw bikers, human trafficking, runaway, trust issues

Genre: Dark, twisted erotic romance / crime thriller

Erotic content: Explicit gay sex

Length: ~117,000 words

WARNING: Adult content. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you.
‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.

 

Book Review

What a story! This fourth book in the increasingly intense ‘Guns n’ Boys’ series picks up right after Seth and Domenico have faked their own deaths at the end of the previous novel. I couldn’t believe they’d be very good at “lying low” – well, maybe Domenico who has mad assassin skills - but Seth? No way. I am happy to report that I was right. While they have the best of intentions and even find a swamp in Louisiana to hide in, they manage to find trouble in no time. Actually, that should be Trouble with a capital T. As with previous reviews in this series, please consider anything mentioned in this review a potential spoiler for earlier books.

Seth is the one dealing with coming back from horrific injuries this time. He may not suffer from amnesia, but he has all kinds of health problems, body issues, and what looks like a total lack of motivation to do anything about it. Seth has become good at hiding things from Domenico, but that is an issue when he doesn’t always make the wisest decisions. It’s clear to me that he tries to prove he is a capable partner to Domenico, but Dom doesn’t see it that way - probably because many of Seth’s attempts to “help” totally backfire.

Domenico may not have as many physical scars this time around, but his emotional well-being has been severely affected. He even has nightmares about what happened, and questions his worth as a man – all because he was not able to single-handedly save Seth from the mafia. I mean – really Dom? Really? Only an arrogant SOB like Domenico would even tell himself that was his task. I wanted to wring his neck for his stupidity, but at the same time, it made me love him even more.

There are many things I liked about this installment. One of my favorite aspects of it was how Seth and Domenico, despite the odds, grow as a couple. It doesn’t look like it in the beginning, and their approach is pretty unique, but when they finally figure it out, it’s explosive on more than one level. Another thing was the story line around the biker gang they run afoul of, a gang with mafia connections - and they end up looking like the good guys! The real villains of this book are despicable and don’t even deserve to be called human. And one of my most favorite parts was the introduction of a new character: a teenager called Mark. Seth insists they rescue him from a randy biker, and they end up stuck with a kid who insists he can be helpful. On one level he is even more naive than Seth used to be, but since he’s only sixteen, I think he’s allowed. Mark manages to bring out all of Dom’s paternal instincts – although Dom would probably kill me for saying that.

If you want to know how Seth and Domenico deal with trying to be inconspicuous (ha!), if you don’t mind things getting gruesome and rough, and if you think you can deal with emotional and physical abuse, torture of innocent people, and Seth and Domenico finding their feet as a couple, then you will probably like this fourth book in the series. It’s dark and scary, wonderfully funny in places, and very, very hot when Seth and Dom get going.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format ebook
Length Novel, 389 pages/117000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date 05-September-2015
Price $5.99 ebook
Buy Link http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Boys-Swamp-erotic-romance-ebook/dp/B014WKQ0XO